Treatments: Insulin

Insulin: Medication mainly used to treat types of diabetes
Introduction: Insulin is now a widely used modern medicine and is now the main medicine used to treat Type 1 diabetes, usually starting immediately from diagnosis. Almost 100% of Type 1 diabetics use insulin; i.e. all except those in the early honeymoon phase. Type 2 diabetics do not usually need insulin at diagnosis, and those that do need insulin initially may come off insulin once they learn how to manage using diet and pills. However, many Type 2 diabetics will often progress over years from diet-only treatment, to diabetes pills, and then eventually to insulin as the diabetes gradually worsens. Even then, whereas a Type 1 diabetic may be doing multiple daily injections, a Type 2 diabetic may well do one injection only at bedtime. Around 40% of Type 2 diabetics use insulin overall, and most are late-stage Type 2 diabetes.

Currently, insulin must be injected under the skin (using a variety of insulin injection devices such as insulin pens, insulin injectors, or insulin pumps), and existing diabetes pills are not insulin pills. However, basic insulin research continues toward insulin inhalers and insulin pills.

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